The OT Sacrificial System, A Pattern of What Was To Come

Jesus celebrated the Passover with His disciples on the very night that he was betrayed by Judas, one of Jesus' own chosen disciples. The Gospel of John records one stirring event that night that has been imitated again and again by Christian communities as they remember and celebrate the Lord's Supper  in Holy Week. Jesus laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel wrapped around Him. This was, of course, the lowly task of a servant in the household of a great lord and certainly not the work of the Messianic King—or at least so the disciples thought.

Peter objected to what Jesus was doing, saying, "You shall never wash my feet."

Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.". . . And then he went on to explain, "You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. - John 13:8,13-16 ESV

The writer of Hebrews 8 uses this same word, example (hypodeigmä in Greek), to describe the entire Old Testament sacrificial system. He also calls it but a shadow (skia in Greek) of the heavenly things. God had given Moses specific instruction to make everything according to the pattern (typos in Greek) given to him. The tent had to be just so in size with a specific number of rooms. In each room certain specific objects were to be fashioned and placed. The high priest, in turn, was to be dressed in specific clothing and he had detailed instructions about how and when to carry out his duties.

The ministry or service that the high priest performed, says Hebrews, was not what goes on in heaven before God. All these rituals and sacrifices were but copies or shadows of what was to come when Christ, the true promised Messiah, came. They pointed forward to the substance or the living body and ministry of Christ (Col. 2:17). The entire law, Hebrews will go on to say, was but a shadow of the good things to come. It was not the true form (icon in Greek). 

In the next chapter he will use yet one more word to describe the various gifts and bloody sacrifices offered by the high priest for himself and the worshippers. He calls them all a parable ( parabolē in Greek) for that particular time, a period that came to an end when Christ, the true High Priest, fulfilled his duties upon the cross (John 19:30). 

So Hebrews practically exhausts the Greek language in order to point out that the whole sacrificial system, with the Tabernacle and later the Temple, the high priest and his helpers, the thousands of sacrifices of bulls, sheep and goats and all the various rituals—the entire system— was not and never was intended to be anything other than a . . . 

• shadow
• example
• copy
• pattern and
• parable

. . . of what was to come and what Christ completed once and for all in the presence of God, in the heavenly places. Watch how again and again the writer makes that point. In the words of Christ, "It is finished!" No more sacrifices, no more blood and no more death. It is over. The debts are paid. And what a comfort it is for all of us who put our faith and trust in Jesus, our true High Priest. 

Complete Rest Awaits All In Jesus

When you read the Gospels carefully you note that Jesus did some in-your-face things on the Sabbath. For instance, he said nothing when his hungry disciples plucked heads of grain to eat on the Sabbath. But that was work and God had strictly forbidden anyone to work on the Sabbath (Exod. 20:9-12). So the proud fundamentalists, the Pharisees, challenged him and his followers. "Hey! your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath. They're working!"

Jesus' replied,

"Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath." - Mat 12:3-8 ESV 

The David story comes from that time when David and his men had to flee for their lives from the wrath of King Saul. Being hungry and without food, David begged Abimelech the priest for bread. All Abimelech had to give was the so-called "bread of the Presence." This was 12 loaves of bread baked each week and placed on a special gold-inlayed table in the Temple as an offering and memorial before the LORD (Lev. 24:5-9). Only the priests were allowed to eat it, but Abimelech broke that rule by giving it to David and his men.

Beyond that, Jesus continued, if you really want to talk about people not working on the Sabbath, consider the priests. They work every Sabbath, offering sacrifices and leading the congregation in worship in the temple. And yet they are not condemned. Two things were overlooked and rejected by the Pharisees—and the bulk of Israel's religious leaders.

• Something greater than the temple is here. What is at stake here is an understanding of what all the rules and laws about the temple and the worship of God were all about. These were all summarized by the prophet Hosea when he condemned the hypocricy of the priests and their sacrifices. Speaking for the LORD, Hosea said, "For I desire steadfast love (or mercy) and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings." - Hosea 6:6 ESV

• Some-One greater than the temple is here. Standing before them was the Son of Man, the promised Messiah, sent by the Father in heaven to bring the mercy of God to all men. He is the One who correctly interprets the meaning of God's command about the Sabbath. From the beginning, the Sabbath day with all its demands to rest pointed to that Day when God would bring final rest to all His children. On that Day God will give His people total and complete rest, rest that includes forgiveness of all sins and the fulfilled promise of a new heaven and a new earth—all because of what Jesus was to accomplish by His sacrifice upon the cross of Calvary. 

It is to this that the Hebrews letter points. 

So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. - Hebrews 4:9-11 ESV 

To strive here does not refer to rushing about trying to prove to God that you are such a righteous and holy person. Absolutely not! Instead it refers to humbly confessing your sins and throwing yourself upon the endless mercy of God now revealed in Jesus. And this you may do with utter confidence.

More about our great High Priest and the grace He brings next time.

Law And Gospel For These End Times

As indicated earlier, I have a full preaching schedule from now until Christmas, something unusual for this "retired" preacher. BTW, I've emphasized again and again to friends and colleagues that the word and the concept "retired" is no where found in Holy Scriptures. Be that as it may, I'm beginning work now on next Sunday's sermon and I invite you to follow with me as I make those preparations.

I've already announced the theme for this 25th Sunday after Pentecost, the second Sunday before the church's year of worship ends. The new church year begins on November 28, immediately following our American Thanksgiving celebration. My sermon will be based upon the Gospel, Luke 21:5-28. My title is taken from that Gospel, verse 18, "Not A Hair Of Your Head Will Perish."

Preliminary observations:

Jesus is speaking to his disciples as they stood on the hillside looking down on the beautiful Temple, built under the patronage of King Herod. There is a model of that temple in a museum in Jerusalem. It was indeed a rather marvelous building complex, occupying some thirty-five acres in Jerusalem during Jesus' day. To learn more, study the links I am providing. 

It must have been a real shocker to hear Jesus say, "As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.” Can't we all see them looking at him with amazement and confusion? Surely not. How could this be? Why? OK, we believe you, Lord, but, but . . . “Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”

The remainder of this Gospel lesson is Jesus' answer. In the midst of that answer is His assurance to the disciples about their destiny, "You will be hated by all for my name's sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives"(vv,17-19).  A very, very peculiar saying. And that's why I chose it as my theme, especially as I ask myself—and will want to ask my hearers—what that means for our lives today. 

Ponder Jesus' statement with me. I believe it is Gospel, not Law. Notes from The Lutheran Study Bible tell me this is an hyperbole, an exaggeration for the sake of emphasis (Acts 2:47; 3:9), but strongly emphasizing that Jesus' followers will experience persecution, as indeed they have down to the present day.

The same notes call my sermon title (v.18) a proverbial statement. That leaves me a bit confused. I'll have to re-study the Biblical tradition of proverbs, how they were used and how they were interpreted. This teaching is quoted in Matthew 10:22 as we read about Jesus sending the disciples out as sheep in the midst of wolves. He also taught that all of the hairs of his disciples' heads were numbered and not a single one forgotten by the Father, just as the Father also keeps intimate track of the sparrows. Fascinating and certainly comforting to know that our Father in heaven has such personal interest and concern for each of His children.

I'll leave this with you for today. We have lots of work to do before this sermon is ready, but already we have a warning from God's Law about false trust in human achievements and a very intimate word of comfort and strength from the Gospel about the heavenly Father's love for His children.

The Early Church's View of the Sabbath

The Day of Rest
________________________
Biblical Teaching About Time

—An online book about rest and worship—
By Dr. Al Franzmeier

Chapter 7

The Sabbath And The Early Church
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After Jesus ascended, the newly formed church began to reach out, first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. As she did so, she struggled to understand the implications of what Jesus had done. Initially, even the Apostles themselves did not grasp the full meaning of Jesus’ work. Some, like Peter, insisted that the church continue to make full use of the Old Covenant rituals and seasons. Gradually, however, they came to realize that the church was the new Israel and she must now live in the freedom won for her by the life, death and resurrection of her Lord. Ultimately, the church expressed this new teaching by replacing worship on the seventh day with worship on the eighth or first day, the day upon which Jesus rose. Thus Sunday became the great symbol of the church that worships the risen Christ on the day of his resurrection.

Missionary work among the Jews

With the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem during the Jewish Festival of Pentecost (fifty days after the Passover, during which Jesus had been crucified), the church grew rapidly. Soon thousands of Jews openly confessed their faith in Jesus as the promised Messiah and risen Savior. With such growth came new responsibilities to care for widows and other needy people, as Jesus had instructed. Among the team of seven chosen to lead up this work was a man named Stephen. Stephen was a remarkable person, described by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles as “a man full of God’s grace and power.” Through him God did signs and wonders, the same as through the Apostles. Because of this, Stephen soon found himself challenged by members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen, former Jewish slaves from North Africa and Asia Minor. They accused him of speaking blasphemy, denouncing both the temple and the Torah and of saying that Jesus would return to destroy the temple and change the traditional customs of Moses (Acts 6:8).

None of that was true. The charges were false and trumped up. The Apostles taught nothing like that. The charges were pulled out from something Jesus had said something about the temple’s destruction. Early in his public ministry, during the Passover Festival, Jesus found merchants selling cattle, sheep and doves for the various required sacrifices in the courts of the temple. Moneychangers also had booths for exchanging Roman money into the Jewish currency accepted by the temple authorities. That was when he drove them out and scattered their coins (John 2:12-25).

He did it again early in the Passover week in which he was crucified (Matthew 21:11-13) It seems that as soon as he left that first time, the merchants set up shop again, of course with permission from the temple authorities. The first time the Jews demanded he show them some sign to prove he had authority to do what he did. The second time they openly plotted to kill him.

In the same chapter in which he recorded this incident at the temple, John recorded the very first sign that pointed to Jesus as God’s long awaited Messiah. That sign was Jesus turning about a hundred twenty gallons of water into the best wine anyone had ever tasted. This was a sign that the Bridegroom had come to cleanse his bride and present her to his heavenly Father, without stain or blemish, as the Apostle Paul later taught (Ephesians 5:25-28). The thing about signs and wonders (miracles, following the lead of the Latin translation of the Bible) is that when God does them they are not seen as such without faith in him. In this case, Jesus did give them a sign that did not come to pass until later.

His resurrection on the third day was that great sign. He said, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” John pointed out that Jesus’ disciples did not understand this until he was raised from the dead. Then they recalled what he had said and gained insight into the Scripture that had foretold his resurrection (John 2:20-22).

The Scripture referred to is Psalm 16:9-11. In it God says he will not let his Holy One see decay. Instead he will enjoy eternal pleasures at God’s right hand.

But let’s get back to why those charges of blasphemy were laid on Stephen. At Jesus’ trial he was accused of plotting to destroy the temple, based upon what he had said years before (Matthew 26:57-68). The plot worked then and so later, when Stephen insisted that Jesus was the risen Messiah, the Jews of the Synagogue of the Freedmen decided to use it again (Acts 6:8-15).

They were successful this time. Stephen and all Christian teachers among them were now labeled as heretics, out to destroy everything that the Covenant stood for. These Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah; consequently they had to reject any teaching that saw him as the fulfillment of the Sabbath, the sacrifices and the other festivals.

Undeterred, the Apostles continued to proclaim the risen Christ. In turn, the Jewish leaders attempted to stop them with imprisonment and threats. They could not and thousands more joined the ranks of believers.

Likewise, the Apostle Paul, on his missionary journeys, following the example of Jesus, chose the Sabbath as the day upon which to challenge the unbelief of the Jews and proclaim the Gospel. For instance, Luke writes that in Corinth every Sabbath Paul “reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks” (Acts 18:3-5). This was the best approach, because that was the day when Jews assembled to worship and study the Scriptures.

Sunday became the day of worship
Some years after Jesus returned to heaven Christians started to worship on Sunday. Initially in Jerusalem they were so excited about what had happened and what it meant that they gathered daily, both in the temple and in one another’s homes (Acts 2:42-47). At this stage, they also observed Sabbath as the day of worship. It was not until much later that we read of believers gathering for worship and Bible study “on the first day of the week” in the Roman colony town of Troas (formerly Troy) in Asia Minor (Acts 20:6-8).

That was the time that Paul kept on preaching and teaching so long into the night that a young man fell asleep in the window and dropped from the third story to his death. The young man’s name was Eutychus, a name that means ‘fortunate.’ He was indeed fortunate, for we also read that he was restored to life when Paul put his arms around him. Some Sunday worship service!

Paul taught his mission churches to meet for worship on Sundays. In his instructions to the churches about raising money for persecuted believers in Jerusalem, Paul wrote in a circulating letter, “On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made” (1 Corinthians 16:1-3). That first day was now seen as the Lord’s Day, the day on which to commemorate Jesus’ resurrection, as well as his promise to return. He closed that same letter with an Aramaic phrase Marana tha, which means “Our Lord come” (1 Corinthians 16:22). Some early church fathers saw this rather as Maran atha, which means “Our Lord has come." Still other scholars translate the phrase as “Our Lord is coming." Perhaps the Apostle intended all three. In any event, the coming of Christ and his promised second coming were now celebrated on the day that came to be known as the Lord’s Day.

As the first century ended, the Apostle John closed his great revelation with these words: “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus” Revelation 22:20). John had received this revelation when he was “in the Spirit” on the Lord’s Day (Revelation 1:10). The Greek term for the Lord’s Day is Hemera Kyriakè. The word Kyriakè means “belonging to the Lord.” It designates something as particularly belonging to or pertaining to the Lord. Here it refers to Sunday as “the Lord’s day.” The Apostle Paul also used it in 1 Corinthians 11:20 to speak about the “Lord’s Supper” as the central act of Christian worship. Kyriakè differs from the word Paul used to speak about the day when the Lord will return (1 Thessalonians 5:2), the Day of the Lord (Hemera Kyriou).

I’m pointing out that the Greek word for Lord—Kyrios—has two different ways of saying ‘of the Lord.’ When Kyrios ends with a feminine genitive (genitive means ‘belonging to’), it refers to the day of the week that particularly belongs to the Lord, Sunday. When it ends with a masculine genitive it refers to that final day when the Lord will return. That day is also his, of course.

That Day of the Lord, the day of judgment when time as we now know it will end, will come as a thief in the night. However, for now, each Sunday is the Lord’s Day, the day when the church openly gathers to celebrate his first coming, to be blessed by his present coming in the Word and the Supper and to anticipate the Day of the Lord when he will return to complete the great work of salvation. On Sunday the church receives a foretaste of the marriage feast that is yet to come (Luke 13:28-30).

Shortly after the first century ended, in a short book called The Didache or Doctrine of the Apostles, we find these words: “On the Lord’s own day gather together and break bread and give thanks, having first confessed your sins, so that your sacrifice may be pure.”

It may therefore be said that the Lord’s Day constitutes the Church. It may also be said that those who think it their duty to abandon Sunday to keep the Sabbath instead, are in effect, denying the Messiah-ship of Jesus and the New Covenant in Him. The New Testament Church never transfers the Sabbath laws from the Old Covenant (Colossians 2:13-22). In the days of the Old Covenant some mistakenly came to believe that they were gaining God’s favor by observing certain days or seasons. To slip back into such thinking, the Apostle Paul said, made them slaves again. They were not living, acting and believing as adopted children of God. They had not even learned the basic ABC’s about God’s great work in Christ. True children are free in Christ from all such rules, regulations, days and seasons. Those things served a valid purpose at one time, but now that Christ himself has come, they are free to live in him and to serve him with heart and soul.

Nevertheless, for the Jewish believer, it must have been sad to lose the Sabbath. It was a wonderful time each week for the family to gather, to rest and relax, to pray and to hear God’s Word. And think about those other big festivals, Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. Those were great times, like vacations and big family gatherings, as well as wonderful worship times.

Of course, the early Christians knew that we still need times to celebrate God’s great acts of mercy, be together and be with family. That’s why Sunday became their Sabbath and over the years other Christian festivals replaced the Old Covenant ones. Today we Christians have three major festival seasons and a number of minor ones, built around the work of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  We’re talking about Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. We’ll get to that, all in due time.

Living in the Living Savior

The first of this month of March I began to serve what we, in our circles, call a vacancy. That's not a Biblical term. It is simply a way of saying that the congregation is searching for a full time, permanent pastor and in the meantime another pastor--or in our case two--is called by the Lord through the congregation to serve them with the Word of God and the Sacraments. That's where I am. I'm one of a team of two pastors serving Living Savior Lutheran Church in this 'vacancy'.

I love the name of this congregation--Living Savior. I love it because it points directly to Jesus. When the LORD confronted Moses on Mount Horeb to send him to lead Israel out of captivity, Moses asked, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"

God said to Moses, "I am who I am . This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "

The name means not only that the Lord exists, but that He is present and active in the lives of His chosen people. He is the Living One, the Eternal One who is sending Moses in answer to their prayers. That is His name. This name became known among them by four letters, YHWH. In Hebrew the vowels are implied, but were not originally written in the text until after the time of Christ.

Anyway, to make a well known story short, they began to regard this Name as being so unique and holy that they would not even speak it. Instead, they substituted their word for LORD or Master whenever they saw it written in the sacred texts. In many English translations we see all the letters of the name capitalized as LORD. This is a way of indicating that the Name YHWH is in the original Hebrew, a name unspoken by the pious Israelites, because they feared to take the Name of the LORD in vain.

When Jesus, the Word of God, came among us, He laid claim to this Name. The Apostle John records many instances of this in his Gospel. For instance, confronted by the Pharisees about His age and His claims, Jesus replied, "Before Abraham was, I AM!" Of course, they all knew what He meant. That's why they tried to stone Him to death. He was making himself equal to the LORD.

This LORD tells us directly why He has come among us. In that same Gospel we hear Him speaking of Himself as the sheep gate through whom His sheep pass on their way to abundant and full life. He says, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

We who call ourselves by His Name (we translate it as Living Savior), are now asking ourselves what it means to go through Him to live. What is this abundant life that this Living One, this Living Savior, brings? And how is He leading us to live it?

We have some clues. We have much to learn. One of the vital clues is to be found in the writings of the Apostles. Peter, for instance, speaks of us Christians as living stones built upon THE Living Stone. Paul picks up this understanding when he asks the question, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." In this instance the words 'your body' are plural. That is, Paul is not talking about a single person, but rather about the entire body of believers gathered by and filled with the Holy Spirit.

So we Living Savior people are asking ourselves what this means for us. How is the Living Spirit of the Living Savior living in us leading us to live? As we grow together and prepare to go together out into our part of the world, we will keep asking such questions. I am quite assured that our Living Savior will answer them. We need only to listen and to follow.